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Published: September 14th 2006
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Close shave with a Ganges Barber!
Cleverly the barber used a ginger towel to hide the hairs We ended up staying for 5 days in Varanasi. The Hotel Alka on the banks of the Ganges was a little oasis away from the hubbub of the alleyways and ghats. There was something tranquil about watching the hazy pink sunsets by the river, while boats went gently past. It really was a perfect spot.
Varanasi was definitely a highlight of my trip so far - not just for the religious interest, but also the way life revolves around this famous old river. The maze of alleyways that lead from Dasaswamedh Road to the ghats may seem a bit intimidating at first - you encounter lots of street hawkers selling trinkets, and of course the amazing smells of pakoras and samosas frying from the fast food sellers. An array of animals roam the narrow passageways, with lots of dogs, goats and the most enormous cows you have ever seen that just sit and block your way. I got lost going back to the Hotel Alka on more than one occasion after dark (normally after one of the many power blackouts you get in Varanasi - carrying a torch is vital)!
There are many children that hang around the hotel
Cut-throat razor at the ready....
"What are you two looking at? Never seen a ginger beard before?" door waiting to pounce on tourists as they come out, offering to lead them through the labyrinth around the ghats. My first day (before I got my bearings) I enlisted the services of "Bicky" to take me to a burning ghat and a Nepalese temple and I tipped him for his services. I thought that these street-wise kids probably did pretty well out of the people staying at the hotel!
Our last day in Varanasi included a 10 km trip to Sarnath, where Buddha gave his first sermon after he achieved enlightenment at Bodhgaya. Unfortunately there is not much remaining from the original temples. As I've found with a lot of non-Muslim religious sites I've visited (the cliff carvings at Gwalior for example), the 200 year reign of the Mughal empire led to many of them being destroyed or desecrated. The tree from where Buddha gave his sermon was there though, along with a few modern temples and a deer park (I counted 3 deers in the whole place - nothing on Richmond Park!).
I popped out in the afternoon to the photo shop to pick up some cds and got caught in an absolute downpour of monsoon
Site of Bodhi Tree - Sarnath
"Did any of you lot see 'Monkey' on telly last night?" proportions! I ran for the shelter of a canopy of a nearby shop and got chatting to some lad on his way home from school. His name was Ranesh (I think) and we started talking cricket, football and then his university aspirations - he wanted to study medicine in England. He lived alone with his grandmother - his parents were not on the scene. The rain got heavier as we talked and the road on which I'd been walking was now more of a river. Ramesh suggested making a run for it through the ghat alleyways before the area got too flooded. He preceded to lead me in a dizzying sequence of left and right turns through the backstreets - splashing into ankle-deep puddles and running through alleys that had become streams. The water, of course was filthy - there was all manner of excrement and sewerage being washing away with the rainwater. Ramesh finally got me to somewhere I recognised and wished me a cheery goodbye. I reached to my pocket and went to tip him, but his face turned into a scowl. "I don't want your money - I want to talk to tourists to improve my english"
he said, before running off. I felt quite guilty presuming that anyone kind enough to help a tourist wanted tipping - you really need to judge each situation on it merits I guess.
Our train to Kolkata was called the Doon Express - an overnight sleeper train that was scheduled to take 14 hours from Varanasi. We arrived at the station in good time only to find the train was running later than it's scheduled time of 4.25pm. I went to the information counter to find out how late and they said two and a half hours.
Lizabeth and I were lucky enough to find a station cafe with six fans on the go and air-conditioning. The room was all grey and biege with the most serious looking man with thick glasses serving behind the counter - but being out of the heat it seemed like paradise! One thing I haven't mentioned properly is how stifling hot it is in India - a five minute walk out here and I'm sweatier than after one of my Hyde Park runs! We ordered some drinks and waited. We were told that the train could arrive earlier so it was too risky to leave the station. Every hour on the hour a garbled announcement came that the train was running a hour later than it's re-scheduled time. In order to keep Mister Grumpy behind the counter happy we kept ordering things to keep us in Cafe Beige and out of the Varansi Station oven. I had a very greasy vegetable biryani at one stage during our marathon wait and later took a gamble on a "vegetable cutlet" which turned out to be bubble and squeek (refried mashed potato and cabbage - not good, believe me), while Lizabeth played it safe on crisps and biscuits.
We were like zombies when the train finally arrived at 10.40pm - over six hours later than scheduled. The cafe had closed at 10.00pm which meant we had to wait and sweat on a very congested platform where everyone seemed to be staring at us - I'm sure they weren't but it seemed that way!
We got onto our "two-tier bunk" AC carriage and collapsed in our seats. I volunteered the top-bunk which seemed like a good idea until I had to get down for a pee in the middle of the night - getting into the thing was fine but getting out in the pitch dark needed the dexterity of an indian rubber man!
I'm typing this from Kolkata where we arrived around 2.00pm this afternoon - we're here for 4 days so expect another update either here or when I get to Darjeeling.
Oh...the joys of travel!!
Bye for now.
Doogs
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